CHICAGO  – The Chicago Tribune reports that a relative of a key figure in the state’s corruption scandal got admitted to the University of Illinois despite sub-par credentials – after then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich put in a good word for him.

The newspaper did not identify the applicant Friday except to say he was related to Tony Rezko, a Blagojevich fundraiser convicted of corruption last year. Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in January.

The relative was accepted after the school’s president wrote in an e-mail that Blagojevich “would like to see” him admitted. That was despite an e-mail from an admissions officer saying his qualifications were “actually pretty low.”

A university spokesman, Thomas Hardy, confirms the school keeps a list of applicants of special interest to lawmakers. But he says questionable admissions are rare.