NEWARK- Frank Lucas, the former heroin kingpin of New York City and the man who’s life is told in “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington is charged with theft by deception for deceiving the U.S. Treasury.

Authorities claim that Lucas claimed he lost a Social Security check and received a new one and then cashed them both.

Frank Lucas, who once ran a billion-dollar business smuggling heroin before going straight, could go to jail for bilking the U.S. government out of $17,300.

Now 81 and ailing, Lucas was charged with theft by deception after he allegedly told the U.S. Treasury he lost a Social Security check with funds earmarked for his 15-year-old son and asked for a duplicate, prosecutors said.