Its a loose term for sure. Personally, whenever i hear the term " associate " being used, i think of someone in the rackets, a crew, under someones flag whos not made. When it comes to politicians, cops, judges, businessmen i refer to " so and so with Mob ties/connections ". But that's just my interpretation.
Yeah, personally, that has always been my interpretation as well. I just don't really know how it's interpreted in the estimations.
