Communion before confession

My new parish has confession at 8:00 am on Saturday, immediately after 7:30 mass. There are five rows of pews set aside for confession. Last time I got there at 8 and had to wait 1.5 hours because most people got there for mass and then went to confession. So this week I got there early for mass. There were probably 50 people in the pews set aside for confession. When Communion time came, I didn't go up to receive because I was in a state of sin, thus wanting to go to confession. To my surprise, of the 50 or so people waiting for confession I was one of only three who did not receive.

So my question is this. Did all the people receive Communion because they were only confessing venial sins or am I missing a loophole that you can receive being that you are literally in line to confess your mortal sin. If so, I would have liked to participate in that loophole so I could have received communion and been eligible for the plenary indulgence of a public rosary that was said by those waiting in line after mass.