Pilate was a Roman prefect who governed the province of Judea from 26–36 AD. He is the one who condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion, though he did that only after lots of pressure from the Jewish crowd. Initially he wanted to let Jesus go but the chief priests and the crowd called for his death (Luke 23:1–5, Luke 23:13–16, Luke 23:18–25).
13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.