Brooklyn teen wins lotto, will get $1,000 each week for life

That's one heck-of-a graduation present.

Eighteen-year-old Robert Salo of Sheepshead Bay won the New York Lottery's "Win $1,000 a Week for Life" scratch-off game, officials announced Tuesday, guaranteeing he'll make $1 million over the next 20 years. After that, he'll get an annual check for $52,000 for the rest of his life -- totaling more than $3 million if he reaches his 80th birthday.

"Everybody always thinks about winning, but they never really win," Salo told amNewYork Tuesday. "It's just unreal."

Salo, who is set to graduate from high school this month, said he rarely plays the lotto. He bought his $2 winning ticket on May 14 during a stop at Coney Island Convenience in Brooklyn.

He said he was in a car with his mother and uncle when he realized he had struck it rich.

"I had to make my uncle stop the car," Salo said, so he could make sure he wasn't misreading the ticket.

The lucky teen said he plans to use his winnings to get a degree in electrical engineering, though he doesn't yet know what school he'd like to go to. He also wants to spend some of his new fortune on himself.

"Of course I'd like a Lamborghini or Ferrari, but I think a new BMW is more in my price range," he said in a news conference.

Salo said he hasn't fully comprehended his sudden wealth. "I was really in a dream when I won," he said. "I'm just waking up right now."