CARBONDALE - As governor in 2005, Rod Blagojevich wrote letters of recommendation for two applicants who were ultimately denied admission to Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Law.

Those are the only instances Blagojevich or anyone in his inner circle, now co-defendants in a criminal corruption case, contacted SIU regarding student admissions, according to a review of records by university general counsel Jerry Blakemore.

Complying with a federal subpoena, Blakemore submitted the documentation to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's office in a letter dated Wednesday. Supporting documents were attached.

SIU made public the results of their system-wide review Friday. The search for admission records included reviews from the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses, as well as the medical school in Springfield.

"The university has complied with the request in a timely manner and has disclosed to the media all known information related to the subpoena's request," SIU spokesman Dave Gross said.

Records of Blagojevich's recommendation letters were discovered by a law school administrator while searching an applicant database maintained by the Law School Admission Council, a non-profit corporation that stores law student data for review.

The law school doesn't have the letters anymore, because records of students denied admittance are destroyed after three years per the school's policy, law school Dean Peter Alexander said in a memo to Blakemore dated June 30.

The law school requested copies of the two letters from LSAC but, was denied according to the information Blakemore released Friday.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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