The head of the Ventaxian government in Devil's Due, who is ready to hand his planet to the woman claiming to be Ardra until Picard exposes her as a fraud.
Acost Jared is the leader of the peaceful agrarian society of Ventax II. He appears in the fourth-season episode Devil's Due, set in 2367.
According to Ventaxian tradition, their ancestors signed a contract with a being named Ardra, who gave them a thousand years of peace in exchange for the planet and its people afterwards. As the term ends, tremors and visions spread panic, and a woman appears who announces herself as Ardra. Jared is resigned to honouring the bargain.
Picard disputes her claim, and an arbitration is held with Data as judge. Jared testifies that the Ventaxians reformed their world by their own efforts. Once the Enterprise finds the cloaked ship behind Ardra's powers, he is free of the contract and she is taken into custody.