CP5 Exoneree Raymond Santana Says IG Led to Deelishis Engagement

Raymond Santana -- one of the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five -- just got engaged to a reality star, and tells us it wouldn't have been possible without a little Instagram flirting.

Raymond was on "TMZ Live" Friday to give us the lowdown on his engagement to "Flavor of Love" star Deelishis, to whom he proposed on Thursday during a lunch date in ATL. Ray says he was pretty sly about it, dropping a faux attitude on his girl before he popped the question.

And, for all those thirsty folks on the 'Gram ... Raymond's here to tell you why shooting your shot can pay major dividends. The story of how he and Deelishis met is so 2019, ya gotta watch the clip. Dude's a romantic.

Of course, Ava DuvVernay's Netflix series "When They See Us" turned a spotlight on Raymond's story -- highlighting the injustice of his conviction for the brutal 1989 rape and beating of a female jogger in NYC.

We asked Raymond if he would accept an apology from former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his administration's role in avoiding a settlement in the CP5's damage suit against the NYPD after their convictions were vacated.

You might recall ... Bloomberg avoided settling the case before leaving office, and Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration agreed in 2014 to pay the CP5 a settlement of more than $40 million.