He is a known 'associate' of criminals. [=he is known to associate with criminals; people know that he works with or spends time with criminals]
She was promoted from assistant editor to 'associate' editor and may soon be promoted to senior editor.
He was 'associated' [='connected, identified'] 'with' a group of radicals in the government.
(..) Bugger. Forgive me. - Lady Croft. - Ah, Mr Powell. No, no, heavens, no. I'm actually his associate, Mr Pimms. - Mr Pimms? - Yeah, like the beverage. Yeah, she's here. What does Mr Powell do? He's a lawyer (..)2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider