Across parts of North Texas, families say they walked through half-built houses they had already paid for, while the contractors they trusted kept promoting new “dream home” projects online.
Those contractors were Christopher and Raquelle Judge of Fort Worth, who now admit in federal court that their company, Judge DFW LLC, was the center of a multi-million dollar wire fraud conspiracy tied to unfinished custom homes and renovations. According to federal prosecutors and plea documents, the couple used social media marketing, personal charm and below-market bids to win work between August 2020 and January 2023, then left more than 40 customers with gutted or incomplete homes and little recourse.
From Social Media Branding To Criminal Case
The Judges operated under the name Judge DFW LLC, advertising themselves as a one-stop provider of architecture, interior design and construction services. A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas states that the business presented itself as capable of taking projects from concept to completion across multiple Texas counties, while Christopher Judge falsely claimed to be an experienced architect.[1]
Victims told local reporters that the sales pitch leaned heavily on personality and social media appeal. Lane Simmons, a homeowner who hired the couple, told Dallas station WFAA that the Judges framed themselves as relatable, design-savvy home experts. “They came out to our house… and really pitched themselves as like this Chip and Joanna Gaines type of vibe,” Simmons said.[2]
According to a report by Fox News Digital, the couple used Instagram and other platforms to highlight in-progress builds and design ideas, which helped them attract a stream of new clients willing to sign large contracts and pay sizable deposits for custom homes and renovations.[3]
Below-Market Bids, Incomplete Projects
Federal prosecutors say the Judges won many of those contracts by underbidding competitors. The plea documents, cited in both the Justice Department release and subsequent news coverage, describe a pattern in which the couple offered bids that seemed significantly cheaper than other contractors. Once clients signed, the work often started but did not finish.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the couple collected large installment payments from clients for projects that stalled or never reached completion.[1] Federal authorities allege that instead of keeping those funds segregated and using them solely to pay for labor and materials on each job, the Judges commingled client payments in the primary business account.
According to Fox News Digital’s review of court records, the couple then used those pooled funds to pay for unrelated construction projects, personal mortgage payments, day-to-day living expenses and even plastic surgery.[3] Prosecutors say that practice left many homeowners funding other people’s builds without realizing it.
Plea documents indicate that more than 40 victims across six Texas counties were affected, covering at least 24 separate construction projects. The government estimates total losses at about 4.8 million dollars, according to the Justice Department release and Fox News reporting.[1][3]
Local Code Citations And Federal Attention
Before the federal wire fraud case, local officials in one North Texas town had already begun documenting problems tied to the company’s work.
In Runaway Bay, a small community in Wise County, Christopher Judge was cited 424 times for code enforcement violations, according to Fox News Digital’s account of municipal records.[3] Those citations reportedly involved incomplete or noncompliant construction, and they helped push the case from a local code issue to a federal investigation.
After complaints accumulated and projects remained unfinished, the FBI began looking into Judge DFW’s practices. That investigation, combined with documents from local authorities and victim statements, fed into the federal conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges now pending against both Christopher and Raquelle Judge.
Families Left With Debts And Gutted Homes
For homeowners, the numbers in the plea papers translate to real financial and personal losses. Victims told Dallas television stations that they had saved for years or taken out large loans, only to find themselves living in construction zones or forced to move out entirely.
“There were families whose kids did not get Christmas for a year or two,” said homeowner Kalie Simmons in an interview with FOX 4 in Dallas. “There were families that filed bankruptcy.”[4]
Some families described paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, then having to hire new contractors to fix or redo work that inspectors found unsafe or incomplete. Others told reporters they are still in disputes with lenders and insurers over who bears responsibility for the losses. Those private financial negotiations do not appear in the federal case file, which focuses on the criminal conduct and the overall loss amount.
Former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins, speaking generally about contractor fraud cases and not representing any party in the Judge case, told FOX 4 that consumers should protect themselves when large sums are at stake. “You just need to be careful about who you give the money to,” he said. “If it’s too good to be true, it’s probably not true.”[4]
That cautionary advice reflects what many of the Judges’ former clients now say they wish they had done. Several told local outlets that they checked online reviews but did not verify licenses, credentials or financial practices before wiring large deposits.
Guilty Pleas And What Comes Next
Both Christopher and Raquelle Judge have now formally admitted their role in the scheme. The Justice Department release and Fox News reporting state that Christopher Judge pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in federal prison.[1][3]
Raquelle Judge pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud as well. According to Fox News, the charge she admitted to carries a statutory maximum of 5 years in prison.[3] Sentencing in federal cases is determined by a judge, who must weigh the advisory sentencing guidelines, the amount of loss, the defendant’s criminal history and other statutory factors.
Federal prosecutors say the couple will be sentenced separately at a later date. As of the latest public reporting, specific sentencing dates and any proposed restitution figures have not been detailed in court documents available online.
Fox News Digital reported that Christopher Judge’s attorney could not be reached for comment, and that Raquelle Judge’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.[3] No public statements from the defendants themselves appear in the Justice Department press release or in local news coverage cited here.
Unfinished Houses, Unfinished Answers
On paper, the case will eventually move toward sentences, restitution orders and a final judgment. For the homeowners who say they lost savings and stability, many of the practical questions remain unsettled. How much money can be recovered, and how quickly, is not clear from the plea documents.
As one former prosecutor told FOX 4, looking at the scale of the losses and the lifestyle allegations in the court filings, “You gotta wonder what happened to the money.”[4] For now, that is a question many families across North Texas are still trying to answer as they live among the remnants of homes they thought were already paid for.
