I'm reading 'Rise and fall of the Cleveland Mafia' now (R. Porello). There are some things I don't (maybe I do, but I verify it in this question) understand about the Corn Sugar:

1) Corn Sugar itself is completely legal and just a ingredient for the booze?
2) Moonshiners used honey for their booze? Honey itself is legal?
3) You can't get (destilate) alcohol from Corn Sugar and honey alone?
4) And now the main question. There is a part in the text I don't understand. I simply can't understand what is said:

"Generally grains were used as the primary ingredient in the raw mash (?) mixture. But the starch (?) in the grain had to be converted to sugar before being utilized by yeast (?) to create ethyl alcohol. The addition of sugar, first as an additive, then as a primary ingredient cut the processing time significantly. All types of sugar were used."

As I read it the Cleveland Mafia is doing nothing illegal here are they?

Thanks in advance.