plpython issues

FreeBSD 8.2
Postgres 9.1
Python 2.7

I'm having a problem with a plpython function. Upon execution an
exception is thrown:

ERROR: ImportError: cannot import name SSLError
CONTEXT: Traceback (most recent call last):
PL/Python function "policyd_rcpt_inbound", line 2, in <module>
from socket import gethostbyname
PL/Python function "policyd_rcpt_inbound", line 66, in <module>
PL/Python function "policyd_rcpt_inbound"

Line 66 of the socket module is:

from _ssl import SSLError as sslerror

Any module that attempts to import anything from _ssl in plpython fails.
The thing is, all these import commands work from the python interpreter
or scripts running on the same machine.

I've hit a dead end trying to figure this out so I'm hoping someone can
give me a path to go down.