BARRE — A Georgia, Vermont, man facing home improvement fraud charges in Franklin County has picked up another such charge in Washington County.
Ryan M. Eaton, 41, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Washington County criminal court in Barre to a felony count of home improvement fraud. If convicted, Eaton faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He was released on conditions.
Trooper Robert Lemnah, of the Vermont State Police, said in his affidavit a man called police on Nov. 14 to report home improvement fraud related to a camp of which he is part owner in Calais. Lemnah said the victim reported he and the other co-owner entered into a contract with Eaton in September for $8,800 worth of work, with Eaton paid $4,400 up front.
The trooper said the victim reported Eaton had not started any work at the camp and Eaton had been in and out of contact with the victim.
Lemnah said he then spoke with the other co-owner, who reported Eaton said materials would start arriving at the camp in October. But the trooper said this victim reported the materials never arrived. Lemnah said the victim repeatedly asked Eaton for the $4,400 deposit back.
On Dec. 7, the trooper said the victim reported the last time he had contact with Eaton was on Nov. 16, when Eaton reported he would show up to do the work a few days later, but he did not show up.
Lemnah said the victims provided him with the contract with Eaton, showing Eaton agreed to work on the camp's roof. He said the contract appeared to have been signed by Eaton.
Eaton is facing two felony counts of home improvement fraud out of Franklin County from two separate alleged incidents. He pleaded not guilty to one of the Franklin County charges on May 9 and the second on Oct. 23.
For the earlier charge, police said Eaton had been hired in August 2022 by a couple in St. Albans to put siding on their house. Police said Eaton signed a contract with the couple and was paid $8,050.
Eaton didn't show up to do the work until November 2022 and brought the wrong color siding, according to court records. But police said since it was already late in the year, Eaton was allowed to use the siding for the job. Police said Eaton was given a second check for $8,050 in November from the victims.
After about 15 hours of work, police said the victims reported Eaton “disappeared.”
Police said Eaton gave the victims multiple reasons over text message as to why he couldn't show up to do the work, including him being sick, a family member getting sick, him needing a colonoscopy, deaths in the family and needing tires for his truck.
Police said they contacted Eaton about this case and asked him to produce invoices showing the materials he bought for the siding work with the $16,000 he had been paid, but he did not provide any documentation to investigators and stopped responding.
For the second Franklin County case, police said a woman in Fairfax reported in June that she had hired Eaton in October 2021 to do renovation work at her home. Police said Eaton was paid $3,200 and signed a contract with this victim.
Police said the victim used a renovation loan for the work and Eaton was paid a total of $18,959.70 through multiple checks, with the last check paid to Eaton in June 2022.
Police said the victim reported the last time Eaton was at her home was in April 2022. The victim reported she had been trying to get Eaton to return to finish the job for three months, according to court records, but he wouldn't respond or would give excuses as to why he couldn't show up to do the work.
Police said the victim took Eaton to small claims court in October 2022 and Eaton failed to appear and failed to pay the judgment against him.
Police said Eaton reported he was never paid by the victim and told investigators he would provide them with paperwork backing up his claim, but did not do so.
