A San Francisco judge ruled Friday that the state could go ahead with the sale of 11 state-owned properties — a deal in which Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said he stood to earn $500,000.

The decision by Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard is expected to be appealed, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The sale, including the Ronald Reagan building in downtown Los Angeles and the Earl Warren building in San Francisco, home to the California Supreme Court, is scheduled to close escrow Wednesday.

Pulido’s $500,000 finder’s fee was disclosed in a deposition given last week by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer as part of the case challenging the property sale.

After the fee, Pulido said the deal to pay him had fallen apart but a spokesman for California First, the company that is the high bidder for the properties, said there never was a deal.

— TRACY WOOD

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