A federal judge who must OK every financial decision Alex Jones makes in his bankruptcy bid to avoid the full weight of paying $1.5 billion he owes Sandy Hook families he defamed has approved the sale of Jones' 27-acre game ranch in Texas for $2.8 million.

Jones won't have direct access to the $2.7 million he's expected to net after the sale, except that it will be put in escrow to pay his legal expenses, with any money left over to go toward the Sandy Hook families he owes, according to an order signed by U.S. Judge Christopher Lopez on Tuesday.

"[T]he ranch was marketed for sale in a commercially reasonable manner," writes Lopez about the property outside San Antonio, described as a "great recreational or livestock ranch" with "fertile soil and working pens" and "wildlife that inhabit the area" including "whitetail deer, feral hogs, wild turkey and numerous other native wildlife and birds." "[A]n unrelated third party, having made the highest and best offer for the ranch, is commercially reasonable and is in the best interest of (Jones') estate and (the Sandy Hook families.)"

So far, the only people who have been paid during Jones' 17-month-long personal bankruptcy fight is his lawyers and experts hired by the families to scrutinize his finances. While $2.7 million may seem like a lot of money, the bottom line is it is nowhere near the hundreds of millions Jones' owes families that he'll never be able to pay.

At most, Jones' estate is worth $15 million according to court documents. For a time, the families were proposing that Jones be allowed to stay in business as the moving force behind the Infowars broadcasting and merchandising platform, in exchange for Jones paying them at least $8.5 million per year, plus 50 percent of any income over $9 million per year, for 10 years — a deal that amounted to 6 percent of what Jones owes them.

Jones refused.

The families then resolved to liquidate Jones. Jones counteroffered a plan to pay the families $55 million over 10 years.

The families refused.

In June, the judge will hear arguments from both sides about the stalemate, and decide what to do next.

The sale of Jones' ranch follows a ruling by the judge allowing Jones to sell gym equipment, jewelry, SUVs, boats, and 49 used pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns. The judge has also authorized Jones to put a $1.75 million lake house property he owns on the market. Jones has not proposed to sell his $3.25 million home or a $500,000 rental unit he owns, court records show.