My great grandfather did five years for being part of an arson ring in the early 1930s. He didn't rat out his partners. He was known as having a book--Having shylocks work under him, but he was also called a loan shark. He even had a bronze statue made of one of his most money making horses. Later, in the 1940s, he invested money with a fried, and a crooked cop to build a racetrack. The idea was to have their own racetrack, stables, etc. But he got screwed by his partners--All the money he invested went nowhere, they screwed him. He died not long after but the top mob guys in his neighborhood knew his name even 20, 30 years later as being a "respectable" guy.

My family seems to think he was just a loan shark or a bookie, but I do wonder if he could've been a Soldier. Not a Capo, but a Soldier, rather than simply an associate. But I've never seen his name come up ANYWHERE--Although he did die early on in the American Mob's history, in 1948.

What do you guys think?