Hi Sean, welcome.
You may get some good answers from this site. I think I just posted a response a few threads down to someone in California that may help with your question. You may also want to look at this site:
http://www.jetcareers.com/forums/ubbthreads.php
A lot more initial flight training type questions get answered there and you'll find quite a few people who are in the process.
Don't worry to much about the little incident. Cops just don't have a sense of humor about toy guns. You can't really blame them, but it sounds like the judge or D.A. agreed with your side of the story.
Typhoonpilot