It wasn’t a criminal charge so he never was at risk of going to jail. He got sued for defamation.

Defamation must involve someone making a false statement of fact publicly — typically via the news media — and claiming that it’s true. An opinion can’t be defamatory. The statement also must have done actual damage to someone’s reputation.

The parents suing Jones say his lies about their child’s death harmed their reputations and led to death threats from Jones’ followers.

Essentially if he had said “I think sandy hook was a hoax” he would have been fine. I think the judge also wanted to make an example out of him, given the nature of his statements.