Who is Jacques from The Vile Village and what is their importance?

Jacques is an unfortunate innocent man who is somehow captured by Count Olaf, forced into costume, and sent to the V.F.D. in search of the Baudelaire children. When he arrive at the village, the council mistakenly arrest him as Count Olaf and sentence him to death. Before the Baudelaire children can save him, the real Count Olaf murders him in his cell so the world will think that Count Olaf is dead. With the world thinking that they are rid of him, Count Olaf is free to commit heinous crimes without incriminating himself.