Here's the "but..but..but" so you can say "w/e" if you like but a person's intelligence is reflected highly in his communication skills.
I don't know how you expected sympathy. The truth is, you may have plagiarized without knowing it. There are very specific guidelines one must follow in order to avoid plagiarizing. I know this because I've gone over it with my professors on numerous occasions. You should have reconsidered sending an e-mail, especially if writing skills are not your forte. Plagiarizing is one of the worst things you can be caught with in an educational institution such as the one you're attending and should be taken more seriously. Yet, this is also why I find it strange that you were not contacted in the first place and had to hear it from "partners". For this reason I suspect that it's probably not what you think. My advice, since you are leaving and most likely can't visit your lecturer in person is to call her during her office hours to talk about the issue.