Kim

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An East Freedom man accused of threatening to kill his co-workers and release a manifesto in July 2025 was sentenced Friday morning to nine months to two years in the Blair County Prison.

Cedric J. Kim, 22, appeared alongside assistant public defender Jordan DeLeo for a plea hearing before Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard, during which he pleaded guilty to a charge of making terroristic threats to cause serious public inconvenience.

Assistant District Attorney Dani McCormick told Bernard that Kim had been incarcerated since his arrest on July 14, unable to post $250,000 bail, and that the time he has already served exceeded the standard minimum sentence that Kim would receive if he were to go to trial and be convicted.

“It is our intention here that it would be a time served sentence,” McCormick said.

When asked by Bernard if the victims of the case were in agreement to the proposed sentence, McCormick said the DA’s Office hadn’t been able to get in contact with them.

Bernard then addressed Kim, asking how he went from having no record to writing a manifesto and threatening to harm people. She asked Kim if there was a breakdown of his mental health, to which Kim said “something of that sort.”

Kim admitted to abusing alcohol and isolating himself from his support system.

Bernard told Kim he would “have to stay in strict compliance with your sentence.”

“The only way to ensure this doesn’t happen again, from my perspective, is strict supervision,” Bernard said. “You can’t for a second think you can skip treatment.”

Before Bernard handed down Kim’s sentence, DeLeo said Kim took advantage of the resources in prison and received three different certificates.

Bernard then sentenced Kim to serve nine months to two years less one day in the Blair County Prison. She ordered that Kim undergo an evaluation with the Blair Drug and Alcohol Program prior to his release so he knew what “level of care” he needed.

Bernard also ordered Kim to pay a $250 fine, undergo drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations and have no contact with any named victims in the case.

The case against Kim stems from reports employees made to a manager at Zach’s Bar and Grill on July 13, 2025. The employees said Kim created a “manifesto” that included a kill list of his coworkers. The manager on duty told Altoona officers that Kim was employed by the parent company of both Zach’s and Old Carolina Barbecue Co., located in the same plaza, and primarily works for the latter, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

During the investigation, the employees told police that Kim was prone to verbal outbursts about acts of violence, would tell others to kill themselves when he was frustrated or upset and tended to “blow up” at management when told to perform a routine task, court documents stated.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor-Musselman is at 814-946-7458.