Kim Kardashian Posts Wrong Picture for Death Row Inmate Ivan Cantu

Kim Kardashian does great work in criminal justice reform -- but in trying to shed light on one important case ... she mistakenly highlighted a guy who's got nothing to do with this.

The reality star flubbed Monday when she posted the wrong photo of death row inmate Ivan Cantu -- accidentally uploading an image of Ivan A. Cantu ... a project manager from New York.

TMZ spoke with Ivan about the social media mix-up -- and the planner tells us he learned of the error from his family. Understandably, he initially thought they were kidding ... as it's his 60th birthday. We're sure this wasn't the birthday surprise he expected!

In any case ... Ivan says he understands that someone from Kim's team likely shared the incorrect image by mistake ... although, he wouldn't say no to an apology since his photo was sent out to Kim's 364 million followers -- that's what he told us anyway.

The SKIMS founder has since taken down the mistaken post and replaced it with a local newspaper op-ed shedding light on the case. The mother of four has spoken out in support of the imprisoned Ivan -- who is currently incarcerated in Texas -- on more than one occasion.

Back in January ... Kim shed light on Ivan's case -- highlighting that the prisoner has always maintained his innocence in the 2000 murders of his cousin, James Mosqueda, and his cousin's fiancée, Amy Kitchen.

He is currently set to be executed on Wednesday after a prior execution date in April 2023 was canceled amid an appeal -- so obviously, this is a very serious matter.