2 Athletes Plead Guilty in Robbery

A college soccer star from Newbury Park and her boyfriend have pleaded guilty to federal charges in the robbery of a Westlake Village bank days before Christmas.

Tabetha Sue Garibay, 21, pleaded guilty in federal court April 22 to one count of driving a getaway car after the robbery. In pleading guilty, she admitted that she and her boyfriend, Todd Hoult, 23, participated in the Dec. 14 robbery of $9,000 from Coast Federal Bank.

But implicating Hoult was not her motivation for agreeing to the plea, said Garibay’s attorney, Shawn Perez.

“She agreed to the plea offer because they were offering Todd a plea agreement too,” Perez said, noting that the two are still a couple. “She would not turn on Todd.”

Hoult pleaded guilty to a single count of bank robbery in federal court Monday.

Garibay will be sentenced July 8, Hoult on July 29.

Garibay dropped out of Pepperdine University, where she was a starter on the soccer team, after her arrest in February, Perez said. Hoult, who attended Moorpark College, graduated from Agoura High School in 1991 after winning the California Interscholastic Federation Division I wrestling championship.

Garibay was a Pepperdine sophomore at the time of her arrest. “She intends to go back to school,” Perez said.

Hoult admitted pulling a black ski mask over his face and ordering three employees to the floor before robbing the bank of nearly $9,000 while Garibay waited outside in her parents’ 1985 gold Corvette.

Hoult told authorities he brandished a pellet gun during the robbery.