Do Co-Defendants Receive the Same Sentence? Understanding Federal Sentencing Disparities. We explain why co-defendants facing the same federal judge at the same time typically don't receive identical sentences. We discuss how indictment ranking, criminal history, and individual sentencing factors under 3553A create different outcomes, even for defendants who know each other well. We highlight that you can't predict another person's Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) or how it will affect their sentencing