The end of my "cheating" tale

I don't understand the impetus that lead you to believe that your project was going to be a "group project." Especially when it comes to programming, most of it is graded by machines that will raise a red flag when similar codes come up. A lot of college students lie and make up excuses when they get caught for cheating. Most of them feign ignorance. It sucks that you got shafted but professors feel that it is their mission to show that college and the "outside world" is a harsh place. Lesson learned?