CHICAGO — House Speaker Michael Madigan swayed the University of Illinois to admit the relatives of public officials, political allies and donors who contributed $115,200 to campaign funds he controls, a Chicago Tribune investigation found.

Only five of the 28 applicants helped in three recent years by the state’s most powerful lawmaker lived in Madigan’s district, and many would not have been admitted on their own merit.

Among the beneficiaries: North Shore attorney Steven Yonover, a longtime contributor who has donated $71,800 to Madigan-related campaign funds. Three of Yonover’s relatives enrolled at the University in 2008 and 2009 after being sponsored by Madigan. The two who applied for 2009 had been wait-listed, and one had the lowest possible rating given by the admissions office.

Madigan also helped a relative of Thomas Ryan, who in 2005 was convicted of stealing more than $100,000 from the south suburban school district he oversaw. Between 2002 and 2005, Ryan gave Madigan $1,000 and was treasurer of a state school organization whose political arm gave the speaker an additional $30,000. That’s around the same time his relative vied for a spot, then enrolled in the University’s law school in 2004.

The Tribune investigation is the first detailed public examination of the relationships between University applicants who received preferential treatment and an elected official responsible for getting them on a secret admissions clout list. While the newspaper previously reported that Madigan’s name was associated with more applicants than any other lawmaker’s, it couldn’t determine whom he helped and how they were linked to him.

Now, the Tribune has been able to identify 28 applicants to the Urbana-Champaign or Chicago campuses backed by Madigan, 23 of whom were accepted for undergraduate studies as well as the law school and graduate programs.

Their relatives made direct campaign contributions totaling $50,000 to Madigan and $65,200 in federal and state donations to the Democratic Party of Illinois, which Madigan chairs. In addition, applicants’ relatives sat on the boards of organizations when the groups’ political action committees donated another $36,700 to those funds.

The speaker’s daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, also received $49,245 from those same individuals and groups.

Combined, the donations totaled $201,145.

Michael Madigan declined to speak to the Tribune but released a statement saying he intervened in admissions cases to be responsive to his constituents and Illinois citizens when they asked for his help.

Records show Madigan’s office faxed, called and e-mailed university officials on behalf of the students.

“I would do so without regard or consideration as to any political relationships or campaign contributions,” Madigan said in the statement.

However, at the time of the requests, the people Madigan helped included the relatives of a Chicago alderman, a high-ranking Chicago Police Department official, a Chicago comptroller and an Appellate Court judge. Two of the applicants are related to Madigan himself.

U. of I. officials have refused to reveal the names of students on the clout lists, or the names of their parents, providing only copies of documents with the names redacted – a move the Tribune is fighting in court. The newspaper is not naming the applicants it identified for this story.

The Tribune connected them to Madigan through multiple sources and University documents provided through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents show the University took Madigan’s requests seriously. About 16.5 percent of the University’s operating budget comes from a state appropriation, and Madigan has significant influence over higher education funding.

In one instance, an undergraduate application was twice referred to as a “very important” case, noting that chief University lobbyist Rick Schoell would “call the speaker” about it.

Employees of the University’s office of governmental affairs repeatedly told a campus official the request came from Madigan’s office.

When referring to a relative of then-Chicago comptroller Tariq Malhance, university lobbyist Terry McLennand wrote in a 2004 e-mail that the applicant was among the “top cases we are watching” after an admissions official wrote that the student was expected “to be denied.”

“Any and all help on these cases is greatly appreciated,” McLennand wrote. Malhance did not return calls for comment, and the relative denied any knowledge of Madigan’s help.

Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, sent an e-mail in 2008 about a relative of Chicago Ald. Frank Olivo, a longtime loyalist in Madigan’s political organization. Mapes acknowledged the applicant didn’t have the grades needed for a specialized graduate program at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Mapes then sent two follow-up e-mails to Schoell, one of which pressed for a quick resolution. The student was admitted.

Madigan’s support, conveyed to admissions officials via university lobbyists, helped applicants in a variety of ways.

The University reversed 10 denials or probable denials. It allowed four students to appeal, an unadvertised option given to rejected students with powerful patrons. Madigan’s office also inquired about seven students who were on wait lists all of whom were eventually admitted.

It is unclear whether the applicants, many of them teenagers at the time, knew about any efforts made on their behalf.

One student admitted from the wait list was a relative of Chicago businessman Thomas Miner, who got an acceptance letter in June 2004, late in the admissions cycle.

Admissions officials said in interviews last year that they admitted politically connected students late to avoid calling attention at their high schools, where more qualified students had been denied.

Miner, who describes himself as a longtime friend of Madigan’s, said he never asked the speaker for help, but he acknowledged ties to Madigan: His relative was best friends with Madigan’s relative, and he donated $3,000 to Lisa Madigan’s campaign for attorney general in 2002 and 2003.

Miner’s relative left U. of I. in December 2005 and transferred to another school.

“My (relative) does extremely well in the real world,” Miner said. “But (my relative) has got allergies against school.”

Lisa Madigan’s political director, Mary Morrissey, said the attorney general didn’t speak with any of the donors regarding inquiries to U. of I. Morrissey declined to discuss Madigan’s relationship with any of the specific contributors. Lisa Madigan is not listed on University documents as a sponsor of any of the 28 students connected to Michael Madigan.

“There are no connections to the donations and any requests made to the University, not that we are aware of,” Morrissey said.

Michael Madigan told the Tribune in his statement he never insisted on anyone being admitted. He declined to discuss specific cases but did not dispute any facts about the students or their families provided by the Tribune.

He disagreed that students he backed were underqualified, because, he said, they have done well at the University. Rather, he blamed the admissions system.