Possession of Paraphernalia in Missouri

Hello everyone. Here's the story. The other day I was hanging out with some friends in my apartment (in Missouri) and they went outside to hang out for a bit and a noise complaint got called on them. I was sitting inside minding my own and they came in. Shortly thereafter, cops knocked on the door, and me preoccupied by my computer game, didn't hear the knock and my buddy said "come in". The cops entered and saw my water pipe sitting on my couch end table and to make a long story short, they arrested me on the charge of possession of paraphernalia since I was the resident there. This is my first offense of any nature. I've never even had a speeding ticket. Being that I am a college student, I am worried that this will follow me and I might even do time. I know that normally that is not the case, but I just want to be sure. I will be contacting a lawyer shortly and will find out what to do, but wanted to know if anyone had any first had experience or thoughts. The police officer said that if I were able to talk to the prosecutor and such, I may have it even be lowered to a littering charge.

my main questions:
1. What will be my punishment most likely?
and
2. Will this be on record permanently?

thanks for your time in advance!

edit: the norml site states that maximum penalty is a 1000 dollar fine and a year in jail... i really don't want that. please advise

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edit: the norml site states that maximum penalty is a 1000 dollar fine and a year in jail... i really don't want that. please advise

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That's the maximum, not the one size fits all solution. It's pretty rare that first offenders get slapped with the maximum, you usually have to act like a first class jackass in court to get that your first time out.

Beyond that, no one here can really say what you'll get. A fine and probation, most likely.

And yes, this will stay on your record.

thank you for your input. the cops said that if i were to work with the prosecutor regarding certain situations locally, i can get it downed to littering. is there no way that it can be taken off of my record?