SELYA, Circuit Judge This appeal necessitates that we consider the effect of the district court's failure to adhere to a local rule. It also requires, for what seems to be the first time, that we review a sentence in order to determine whether the district court correctly calculated, and thereafter appropriately departed from, the newly-minted sentencing guidelines (Guidelines) promulgated by the United States Sentencing Commission pursuant to the Commission's statutory mandate. See Sentencing Reform Act, as amended, 18 U.S.C. § 3551 et seq. (1982 & Supp. 1988); 28 U.S.C. §§ 991-998 (Supp. 1988) (collectively, the Act). Finding no reversible error, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND
