US Attorney subpeonas admission records from Illinois universities in probe of Rod Blagojevich 

Federal prosecutors are trying to determine if former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his allies used political muscle to influence student admissions at three state universities.

United States Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald issued subpoenas this week seeking admissions office records from the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University. The request was related to Mr. Blagojevich and three of his co-defendants on criminal corruption charges, William Cellini, Christopher Kelly and Alonzo Monk.

SIU General Counsel Jerry Blakemore will conduct a system-wide search of university records in response to a subpoena related to the criminal case against former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, SIU spokesman Dave Gross said Wednesday.

The university’s attorneys received a subpoena late Monday from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which is prosecuting Blagojevich in relation to corruption charges.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wants to know if personnel at Southern Illinois University ever had conversations with members of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's inner circle about student admissions.

The university's office of general counsel received a subpoena Monday from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which is prosecuting a criminal case against the ousted Illinois governor.