Underage Possession of Alcohol in New York

[mw15conl]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York

So this saturday I was driving myself and three friends to a concert at The Saratoga Performing Arts Center which is located in a State Park. When we pulled into the park there were officers stopping every vehicle and checking for alcohol. When it was our turn at the checkpoint the officer asked if we had any alcohol in the car and I said no. He then asked if we had any coolers. I hesitated a little, non of the coolers were mine but I knew they were my friends and that they had alcohol in them. He then started questioning us more so I then told him alright we have some beers in the trunk. He told us to pull over to the side they took all of our beer then he asked for all of our licenses. We gave him them but one of my friends didn't have his with him. I told him that I was the designated driver which I was and that I wasn't drinking and non of the beers were mine and he said he wasn't going to give me a ticket. He then took the three licenses that he had and came back with three tickets and handed one to me. I looked at him and asked him why I was getting one after he told me I wasn't, he seemed confused and then my friend reminded him that he didn't have his license with him, so he then took all my friends information and went back to his car and came back with another ticket. When he came back I asked him what about my ticket and he told me well I already wrote it and you were still in possession.

What should I do in this situation. All of my friends are planning on pleading guilty and mailing in the ticket. However I feel since non of it was mine and I was not planning on consuming it should I plea not guilty and try and get out of it. I even had mono at the time and if I were to drink it could cause serious damage to my liver. Should I bring a doctors note to court stating that? And what are my chances of getting this dropped? I was even the designated driver, we were trying to be responsible, would a judge even care about that fact?

Edit: I am 19 years old.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You were driving and you knew you were transporting a cooler full of alcohol - the fact that others owned it does not mean that it was not in your possession.