Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me! Or so Jean thought all through his youth, with dreams of Jean Laffite, the infamous patron pirate of New Orleans. Jean has achieved his dream as close as possible in the 20th century: he became an importer of rare and questionably obtained items. In fact, Jean is closer to a smuggler than a importer, but local folks are more impressed by a respectable title. Jean owns two small freighters, a half a dozen large gulf-faring boats, and a handful of packet steamers that work their way up and down the river (or into the bayou as needed).
When not out on "business trips", Jean lives with his wife, Gabrielle, and his two daughters Yvette and Nicole in their estate on Lake Pontchartrain. The import business is booming.
Jean works with some aspects of the New Orleans Mafia, but no more than he has to: he pays the "insurance", provides them with supplies when they ask, and they leave him alone. This policy came from a hard learned experience two years ago that cost one of Jean's close friends his life, and almost cost Jean everything.
Antoine Vallier was the Mafia's head man for the river front, and a good friend to Jean. The two hung out together, did favors for one another, and Jean often invited Vallier and his girl, Simoné, over to his house for dinner with his wife and kids. Internal conflict erupted in the local Mafia a year ago, and a group of thugs came gunning for Antoine while he was at Jean's house. The thugs shot up the house, killed Antoine, and were about to kill Jean and his family when Simoné stepped out from the shadows and mowed down the thugs with a tommy-gun. Jean hid Simoné until after the conflict settled down, and then "arranged" for her to return to the city without fear for her safety. Simoné is now a singer at several clubs in and about the French Quarter, and Jean still checks up on her frequently.
One of Jeans best friends now days is Henry Smith, who runs the New Orleans Museum of Natural History. Henry and the museum do a lot of business with Jean, requesting some of the more unusual and difficult to procure (legally) items his company handles. But better than this, Henry is great for doing the town after a long day's work or a long voyage out to see (even though his wife complains when he comes home the next morning drunk or hung over).
Although relatively well off, Jean would love to quit the illegal aspects of his career and perhaps even sell off his business, if the money were right. For now Jean relies too heavily on the illicite funds to quit.