A person may plea guilty without a plea agreement. Or, a person may plea guilty with a plea agreement. Federal court is very different from State court. In federal court, you plea to the charges without a guarantee of what the sentence will be. Sentencing is always left up to the sole discretion of the District Court Judge assigned to your case. A District Court Judge will look at the federal sentencing guidelines, but ultimately has the discretion to go above or below the guideline range. 

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Plea bargaining in federal cases is usually a discussion about which charges the client will plea to, which charges will be dismissed, and some other details about the federal sentencing guidelines. Some cases can be resolved favorably before an indictment is ever issued. The vast majority of cases are resolved with a plea instead of a trial. The Judge may move the sentencing guidelines down 1-3 levels in severity in consideration of entering a plea.

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A plea agreement is never final until a judge reviews and accepts it. Even if the judge accepts the agreement, he or she does not have to follow it. A plea agreement may contain an estimate of the sentence with which the judge disagrees. Even if the judge imposes a sentence different than what is in a written plea agreement, a client will usually not be permitted to withdraw his or her guilty plea.