Influencer couple pleads guilty to nearly $5M swindle in home renovation scams

An influencer couple pleaded guilty to scamming more than 40 people out of $5 million in fraudulent home renovations.

Chris and Raquelle Judge are a married couple in Texas who promised clients immaculate remodeling of their homes.

Chris Judge allegedly claimed to be an architect, but prosecutors say he wasn't.

Kristen Newman said she was a victim after she hired the young couple to build her dream home.

"He just walked off, he stopped talking to us, it became a nightmare for sure," Newman said.

Officials say the couple offered custom architecture, construction and interior design services at "below-market" rates.

"This isn't just a bad business decision," Newman said. "He chose to lie, he chose to steal."

Lane Simmons and his wife said they paid them about $200,000 to remodel their home.

"They really pitched themselves as this 'Chip and Joanna Gaines' type of vibe," Simmons said. "My house, everything they did was wrong. We had a family friend come over who's also a contractor to look at everything and he's like 'a lot of this is unsafe; it's like the worst job I've probably ever seen.'"

Prosecutors say the guilty couple used some of their nearly $5 million swindle on personal mortgage payments and plastic surgery.

Christopher Judge faces up to 20 years in prison.