The research also sought to determine whether the defendant's ethnicity influenced the effect of other defendant characteristics, legally relevant variables as defined by the guidelines, guilty pleas, and departures from guidelines regarding sentence severity. The participants had all been convicted of either drug trafficking or simple drug possession involving crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines. The data were analyzed were analyzed by means of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate techniques. Disparity in the Federal sentencing of drug offenders was linked not only to offense-related variables as structured by the guidelines, but also to defendant characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, educational level, and noncitizenship, which under the guidelines were specified as legally irrelevant. Specifically, female defendants received less severe sentences than similar male defendants. Defendants who were not United States citizens or who were black or Hispanic also received significantly more severe sentences than other defendants. Defendants with at least a high school education received less severe sentences than did defendants who had not completed high school. Findings suggested that the Federal sentencing guidelines have not eliminated sentencing disparity linked to defendant characteristics for these defendants. Further research is needed to determine ho guideline departures are awarded and the potential intersection of guidelines departures and guilty pleas in the sentencing process. Tables, footnotes, statute citation, and 84 references