sort of relevant:
a good friend of mine was into drugs in a big way back when he was in high school. sort of a trouble case...good home life but got in on drugs and ended up eventually getting busted for
1. inciting a riot (fight at school)
2. posession
3. posession with intent to sell (not that he intended to sell but he had so much of it, it is legally considered intent to sell)
went to the navy for four years (maybe only 3.) as a cook on ship. set him straight though. i think it was basically the judge saying "your life is going in a mess of a direction, you need to do something"
he didnt do any time except in the navy, they got his S sorted out (obviously he was a bit of a trouble-maker through training and all. tried to leave a number of times, etc)
but he now has a woman and a couple of kids, works in a private business with managment grooming him to take over when they retire and other than being standard-issue north jersey curmudgen with high taxes and kids to take care of a pretty happy guy.
things can work out but you need to make it clear you want things to go in your direction.
personally, none of us really are invested in the truth of what happened.
if you were involved or not, you need to come clean with the authorities completely and, if you want to change, make it clear. the vast majority of law enforcement from police on up to judges dont want to simply punish for no reason; that doesnt solve problems, they want people to function in a capacity that is in their best interests and the best interest of the rest of society. im a life-long skeptic but i cant believe that police would plant without motive. this story isnt winning you a lot of support partially because of the nature of ATOT but mostly because they story is spotty and confusing to us outsiders.
it might not be "fair" in your eyes but you have to work to get to the place you want to be.
my buddy is from a middle-class working family, which may or may not be relevant to you. he didnt have cash to toss around or anything but he was able, using the truth of his mistakes, make his life work for him.