Anthony Constantino, the chief executive of Sticker Mule, used the biggest moment of his election night to make a plea for a man sitting in federal prison. Claiming victory in New York’s 21st Congressional District — one of the closest races in the state — the Trump-backed Republican told supporters at Sticker Mule headquarters in Amsterdam, New York, that President Trump should consider freeing Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“I think President Trump should consider freeing Diddy,” Constantino said in his victory speech, calling Combs “a historic New Yorker that did great things for New York State.” He did not say whether he was asking for a pardon, a commutation or a reprieve. The speech was a fiery one — Constantino scolded the media over coverage of his campaign and had a WWNY reporter removed from the watch party.
Trump has not answered the call, and his last word on the question points the other way. In January 2026, Trump said he does not plan to pardon Combs, who had written to him asking for one; Trump said he was not inclined to grant it, pointing to Combs’s past criticism of him.
Combs is serving a 50-month federal prison sentence. A jury convicted him in July 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted him of sex trafficking and racketeering. His projected release date is February 6, 2028 — which means that without a pardon or commutation from Trump, the music mogul stays behind bars, whatever his supporters in New York politics say.
For ordinary Americans, the moment matters because a pardon is one of the few powers a president holds completely alone — no vote, no court, no appeal. Who receives one, and who gets a hearing to ask, is the public’s clearest test of whether the justice system treats the famous the same as everyone else. A congressman-elect spending his victory speech on that plea puts the question squarely in the open, and the decision now sits with Trump alone.
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