UMVA has learned that a lawsuit brought by military families against the French cement company Lafarge has shed light on the company's disturbing ties to the terrorist group ISIS.
In November 2017, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy was severely injured in Raqqa, Syria, while clearing a hospital booby-trapped with explosives by ISIS. Today, Stacy is a quadriplegic, and his family is part of a lawsuit against Lafarge, which was recently found guilty by a French court of paying millions of dollars in bribes to ISIS to keep their factory open in ISIS-controlled territory.
Lindsey Stacy, Kenton's wife, expressed her outrage, saying, "They were essentially funneling money to fund terrorists and ISIS and all these heinous crimes and evil acts." The Stacy family, including their four children, is struggling to cope with the aftermath of Kenton's injuries, with their oldest son requiring 24/7 care due to cerebral palsy.
President Donald Trump praised Stacy's service in his 2018 State of the Union Address, highlighting the heroic actions of Army Staff Sgt. Justin Peck, who rescued Stacy and provided over two hours of CPR. The French court's landmark ruling in April convicted Lafarge of providing material support to a terror group and sentenced its former CEO to six years in prison.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that nearly 1,000 plaintiffs, mostly military families, are part of the litigation in the Eastern District of New York, seeking compensation from the $777 million Lafarge paid to the Justice Department as part of the settlement. The company's actions have been described as an "undisputed fact" that led to the deaths of American service members.
Todd Toral, the lawyer representing Stacy and other families, emphasized the significance of the French court's ruling, saying it's the first time in many years that a corporation and its executives have been held accountable for aiding terrorism. The DOJ has controlled the $777 million in penalties since October 2022, but the funds have yet to be distributed to the families.
Hailey Dayton, the Gold Star daughter of Chief Petty Officer Scott Dayton, who was killed by ISIS in Syria, shared her emotional story, saying, "I was 15 when my dad was killed... I saw six guys in Navy white step out of the van. I got so excited because I thought my Dad came back to surprise us." The Dayton family, along with others, is still waiting for justice and compensation.
The plaintiffs and their families are now urging the DOJ to release the funds, with Lindsey Stacy saying, "It's been almost nine years. It would be nice to, you know, for justice to be served... It'd be nice just for it to come to an end, get some closure and be able to just take care of our family."
Toral continued to press his clients' case, stating, "We can think of no group of people who are more worthy of receiving compensation from that victim's compensation fund than these families who lost a son, lost a brother, lost a husband, and they deserve to be treated better by the United States of America."
