CONTRA COSTA, Calif. -- An alleged methamphetamine dealer and associate of the Family Affiliated Irish Mafia and the Surenos street gang was arraigned in Contra Costa County Thursday on a seven-count indictment that included allegations he was involved in the slayings of two people in Crockett and unincorporated San Pablo in 2004 and attempted to kill a third person in Richmond in 2005.

Robert Lott, 42, and co-defendant Tara Sanders, 33, have each been charged with two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, conspiracy, attempted robbery, residential burglary and grand theft of personal property. They also face a series of gang and weapons enhancements.

According to prosecutor Thomas Kensok, Lott and Sanders are just two defendants in a conspiracy case involving nine co-defendants scheduled to be tried in three separate trials in Contra Costa County.

While Lott and Sanders are believed to have played relatively minor roles in the two slayings, they are charged with the crimes because they are alleged to have been involved in the methamphetamine sales that reportedly led to the killings, Kensok said.

Coby Phillips and Thomas Covey are co-defendants in another case involving the same methamphetamine ring and the same killings and attempted killings. They are both believed to be members of the street gang the Family Affiliated Irish Mafia, known as FAIM, which was formed in the mid-90s in Contra Costa County.

The gang, which, according to police, operates out of Rodeo, has ties to the prison gang Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacist group that was formed in 1967 in San Quentin State Prison, according to the FBI.

Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies had been actively investigating the alleged crimes since the first murder occurred on Oct. 7, 2004.