Captain Laporin was a Benzite who served in Starfleet. During the skrimishes between the Federation and the Klingon Empire his ship was boarded by Klingons who first beheaded his Tellarite helmsman and later ripped of his breathing device causing the captain's death. Captain Benjamin Sisko who was a classmate of Laporin's during their Academy time would learn in 2373 about this incident on the Klingon outpost Ty'Gokor. (DS9: "Apocalypse Rising")
It would seem that Laporin must have been quite the officer. As Mordock was the first Benzite in Starfleet Academy in 2364. (TNG: "Coming of Age") We have to assume Captain Sisko must have gone back to the Academy for special training sometime after 2364 in order for him to have been in the Academy with Laporin, as Sisko's known training was from 2350 to 2354. This would mean that Laporin would have to have gone from a first year cadet to the rank of captain in at most, a nine year time period; 2364 to 2373.