A Fort Worth couple has been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a yearslong fraud scheme that prosecutors say left more than 40 victims facing unfinished custom home projects and approximately $4.2 million in losses.

Christopher Judge, 35, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. His wife, Raquelle Judge, 36, was sentenced to one month in prison. Both pleaded guilty in December 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and were ordered to pay $2,794,680.73 in restitution.

Christopher Judge could have received a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and Requelle Judge was facing a sentence of up to five years, The Dallas Express previously reported.

Couple Used Construction Company To Defraud Victims

According to court documents, the Judges were managing members of Judge DFW LLC, a Texas-based company they used to market custom architecture, construction and interior design services.

From approximately August 2020 through January 2023, the couple offered below-market bids for custom home projects in six North Texas counties. Prosecutors said the low bids induced customers to sign design-and-build contracts and make multiple installment payments.

The Judges failed to complete most of the projects and sometimes abandoned them entirely, leaving victims without the homes they had paid to have built.

Christopher Judge also admitted that he falsely represented himself as a licensed architect.

More Than 40 Victims Identified

Court records show that more than 40 people were defrauded across at least 24 construction projects.

The couple commingled customers’ installment payments in Judge DFW’s primary operating account and frequently used money from one customer’s project to pay expenses associated with unrelated construction projects, according to court documents.

The total loss from the scheme was estimated at approximately $4.2 million.

Victims Describe Financial Impact

A group of victims attended the sentencing, with the number of people in attendance requiring some to sit alongside the Judges in court.

One victim, Kristin Newman, described the financial consequences of the scheme as severe.

“What each family, individually, has gone through is financially debilitating,” Newman told Fox 4 KDFW.

Another victim, Chelle Bish, said she attempted to connect with Christopher Judge during the legal proceedings but was unsuccessful.

“So for me, everything that he presented was just words to try to convince the judge to get the result that he wanted,” Bish said.

Defense attorneys argued that Judge DFW LLC began as a legitimate business but struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading Christopher Judge to make what they described as a “series of poor decisions.”

Prosecutor Says Fraud Undermined Consumer Trust

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould said the sentences demonstrate that fraudulent business practices will carry serious consequences.

“Fraudsters who exploit hard-working families in the Northern District of Texas will face serious consequences,” Raybould said in a news release. “The Judges didn’t just abandon construction sites; their entire business model was built on lies and deceit.”

“This kind of brazen fraud strikes at the heart of consumer trust, and our office will ensure that those who engage in such criminal conduct face justice,” he added.

The FBI’s Fort Worth Resident Agency and the Euless Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark McDonald and Laura Montes of the Fort Worth Division prosecuted the case.

Judge Orders Sentences Served Separately

Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means sentenced the couple in federal court.

Means allowed Raquelle Judge to serve her sentence first, followed by Christopher Judge. The judge cited sympathy for the couple’s four children in making the decision.

The Judges did not address victims directly during the sentencing.