Who is Niles Ferrier from Dark Force Rising and what is their importance?

Niles Ferrier is a smuggler, who specializes in stealing spaceships. Thrawn offers good money for stolen warships, so Ferrier hopes to capitalize off of the current hostilities. He hopes to find out the coordinates of the Katana fleet. In the end, Han kills Ferrier by dumping liquor over him and lighting him on fire.