so i ended up with a court appointed lawyer, who are paid if a plea is signed.
I am not sure where you were from when that occurred but I can tell you that your above statement is generally false.

I spent a year as a bar certified student intern with the Public Defender. I was in court every day representing people for "crimes" like the one you described. We were paid an hourly wage, albeit a very small hourly wage, but it had nothing to do with getting our clients to accept a plea negotiation.

Under the facts you stated about the bomb threat the search of the cars seems proper and within the exception to the warrant requirements.

Your state either has very strict marijuana laws or your were sentenced very harshly if this was your first offense. Generally, similar cases I handled the client received an initial offer of 30 days of "work project" which is out of custody working with the local sheriff's dept. picking up trash on the highway. Generally, that then would be reduced by a third and then if you made no trouble for the Sheriff you were released from work project within 10 - 15 days.