Daimler Exec's Wife Fined Over Party

Gisela Zetsche, the wife of the newly named head of DaimlerChrysler AG, was fined and chastised by a US judge Wednesday for allowing a party with underage drinking to occur at her luxury home. While Zetsche, 55, was ordered to pay the maximum penalty of $500 (412 euros), 48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small also ordered her to pay $2,500 in court costs. Small chastised Zetsche, a German citizen, at length for allowing minors to drink alcohol at the party which police broke up in the early morning hours of June 18. Her husband, Dieter Zetsche, a top auto industry executive who has led the Chrysler division and is poised to take over DaimlerChrysler at the end of the year, was not at home at the time of the party. The judge said she was pleased that Zetsche was willing to voluntarily perform community service geared at preventing underage drinking. The party at the four-million- dollar home was attended by over 100 young people, 21 of whom were ticketed for being minors in possession of alcohol.