The New York Times reports Ashley Alexandra Dupre (formerly Ashley Youmans) is the woman identified as 'Kristen' in court documents involving Spitzer's communications with the Emperors Club VIP call girl service. Dupre appeared on Monday in U.S. Magistrate Court to testify against four people who have been charged in the prostitution ring case.

Dupre told the Times she has not slept much since the scandal became public and that she doesn't "want to be thought of as a monster." The attractive brunette's MySpace page listed her as an aspiring singer and musician who moved to New York at 17 to pursue a career in music.

In her MySpace profile, Dupre writes, "Left and learned what it was like to have everything, and lose it, again and again... Learned what it was like to wake up one day and have the people you care about most gone. I have been alone. I have abused drugs. I have been broke and homeless. But I survived, on my own."

Apologizing for his public involvement in a private matter and saying he doesn't want his personal life to take time away from the people of New York, Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday morning, saying Lt. Governor David Paterson will take over the post effective Monday.

Spitzer has been tied to a prostitution ring after a federal investigation revealed Spitzer was recorded on a wiretap arranging to meet with a prostitute. Identified as Client 9 at the Emperors Club VIP escort service, Spitzer was recorded in a wiretap confirming plans to fly a prostitute from New York to Washington to meet him at a hotel.

According to the New York Times, court documents stated Client 9 arranged to meet with an Emperors Club VIP prostitute on Feb. 13 in Washington, D.C. Spitzer is believed to have stayed at the Mayflower Hotel that evening, though the hotel room named in the court documents was registered under a different name. Spitzer informed his aides on Sunday of his involvement in the prostitution ring.

The Emperors Club VIP web site, which has now been taken down, showed hourly rates for displayed women up to $5,500 an hour. The specific woman who is reported to have met with Spitzer has not been identified.

During his term as attorney general in New York, Spitzer spearheaded the prosecution of at least two prostitution rings, according to the Times. He was named "Crusader of the Year" by Time Magazine for his efforts to stomp out corruption on Wall Street and fight organized crime. Spitzer easily won the governorship in 2006 by a wide margin of the vote.

Spitzer, who has long been an advocate for equal marriage rights for gays and backed a gay marriage bill in the New York legislature, is married and has three children. During his 2006 campaign, Spitzer said, "No New Yorker should be deprived of the right to marry the person of their choice, regardless of gender... This is not about forcing any religion to perform or recognize gay marriage. It's simply about permitting gay and lesbian couples the right to live in stable, long-term married relationships."

In a statement to the press Monday afternoon, Spitzer said, "I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family, and violates my, or any, sense of right and wrong." Standing beside his wife, Silda, Spitzer continued, "I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, whom I promised better… I have disappointed, and failed to live up to the standard I have expected for myself."

Federal prosectures in Manhatten have filed charges against four people in the prostitution ring case. It is unknown at this time whether Spitzer will face any charges regarding his involvement, though analysts suspect a deal had been struck prior to Spitzer announcing his resignation.

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