BENNINGTON — The case against a Bennington man charged with home improvement fraud in 2024 was permanently dismissed after the defense cited the 13th amendment’s “involuntary servitude” prohibition, resulting in the senior homeowners being left without restitution for $15,000.

“I'm 75, my wife is 73,” said homeowner George Dyke in a phone interview soon after the case was dismissed. “We're both retired people who've lived in the same home in Vermont, law-abiding for 20 years. We moved to Bennington, Vermont, because we wanted to escape the problems associated with metropolitan areas. You want my reaction? I'm disgusted. I feel like leaving Vermont. That’s my immediate reaction.”

The timeline and events leading up to the dismissal started last year, when Dyke contacted Donald Crowley, 47,

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